Namco Bandai have surprised us this weekend with not only a new Ridge Racer game, but also with the news that it will be a free-to-play downloadable title on the PS3 and PC. Ridge Racer: Driftopia is coming later this year and looks similar to last year’s Ridge Racer: Unbounded, albeit with less building destruction. The tracks may well feature some of the same ones from that game as they look very similar in the trailer.

No other details have been released as of yet, but we’re sure microtransactions will be used to support the game. Fingers crossed the handling has been improved and is more in line with the older games as vehicles handled like buses in Unbounded. Vita fans may recall that the Ridge Racer title on the handheld was crippled by a lack of content as Namco thought it would be a good idea to make us pay for DLC that should have been included in the game. Hopefully they’ve learnt their lesson. But seeing as Driftopia will be ftp, you can be sure we’ll be giving it a fair shot. Check out the trailer after the break.